Animal decoys have been used for centuries for attracting various animals into the range of hunting instruments. The most recognized form of decoy is the duck or goose decoy formed in three dimensions and painted to closely resemble the selected animal. However, decoys have been used for many different animals through the years, and have also been developed in two dimensions as silhouettes.
The advantage of substantially two-dimensional silhouette decoys is that a great number can be easily carried to a particular site and placed about in a quick and efficient manner. They are also easy to store and transport.
A disadvantage of prior two-dimensional silhouettes is that the typical coating on the board surfaces does not accurately represent the animal to be decoyed. This is due to the overall difficulty presented in producing an exact likeness of the animal, including colors.
Another difficulty is that the usual screening process is economical only in a limited number of colors so both the visual image and its color are not technically accurate.
A still further difficulty with the prior two-dimensional decoy arrangements is reflectivity of the surfaces. Surface reflection has long been recognized as a drawback, especially with the large flat surfaces presented on two-dimensional decoys. Reflection is easily detected by animals and thus gives sufficient cause for the animal to move on to a different area. Reflectivity therefore detracts from the intent of the decoy to attract animals.
Another difficulty with prior two-dimensional decoys is cost. Original artwork is costly and subsequent screening processes are also expensive.
The above problems are recognized to a limited degree in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,872 granted in 1989 to Anderson. This patent discloses a water fowl decoy constructed of sheet material and having a painted coating thereon. The sheet body is provided with a roughened surface texture and may be painted or printed with a flat, low-glare paint to reduce reflectivity.
From the above, it can be seen that while two-dimensional decoys represent certain desirable characteristics, it has remained a problem to provide such decoys with low reflectivity along the relatively flat surfaces of the decoy bodies, while accurately representing the likeness of the animal on the decoy surface.
The present invention, therefore, has for an object, to provide a decoy or an animal decoy having a close likeness of an animal thereon.
A further object is to provide such a decoy with an extremely low surface reflectivity to avoid alerting the decoyed animal.
A still further object is to provide such a decoy that includes a stake support arrangement that will securely mount the decoy against unintentional removal. These and still further objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description which, taken with the accompanying drawings, disclose a preferred form of the present invention.